Recently, three Clarkson students were selected to participate in the national American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – Construction Institute (CI) Student Days Conference and Competition at the Crowne Plaza Charleston Airport – Convention Center in North Charleston, South Carolina. Those students were Sean Donnelly (CivE ’23), Seth Anderson (CivE ’23), and Kirsten Lehnen (CivE ’23). As part of the event, undergraduate students from across the nation are divided up into teams, creating mock construction firms, to bid and develop a proposal for an ongoing civil engineering project. Both Sean and Seth were chosen to be Team Leads of the ACE Associates and Birdseye Construction teams respectively, while Kirsten served as a vital member of Team Hard Hat. All three teams did exceptionally well throughout the competition.
The teams were assigned a project to create a full proposal for the US-17 Widening Project on the border of Georgia and South Carolina. This project was a Design-Bid-Build Project owned by the SCDOT. All three teams drafted a proposal including a schedule, estimate, and logistics plan for the construction of this project.
All three teams performed well in the competition. The ACE Associates team (led by Sean Donnelly) became the first team to receive a second-place award from the CI Days judging panel. In the past, CI Days have only announced the first place team. The judges said that this year the top two proposals (CI Builders and ACE Associates) were so close that a second-place award was warranted. Also, all three Clarkson students received the award for “Best Speaker” in their respective teams. With this award, all three students have received free registration for the ASCE Construction Institute Summit taking place in St. Louis, MO in March of 2023.
The Howard E. Lecher Endowed Director of Clarkson’s Construction Engineering Management (CEM) program, Prof. Erik Backus was quick to respond to the news. “Congratulations to you all on your phenomenal accomplishments at ASCE-CI days,” said Backus. “We couldn’t be more ecstatic about your achievements and for how well all of you represented Clarkson. You’ve done yourselves (and us only by association) really proud.” Clarkson Interim Provost Dr. Goodarz Ahmadi also chimed in stating, “I also want to add my many congratulations to the team. Outstanding achievements, and well done!“ Adding to the praise was the Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) Department Chair, Dr. Steve Wojtkiewicz: “Sean, Kirsten, and Seth, Congratulations on receiving “Best Speaker” awards at ASCE-CI Students Days! You should be very proud of your achievements and representation of Clarkson at this national event. Job well done.”
The Clarkson CEM program and CEE Department offer best-in-class curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular activities that propel students into their future and careers ahead of many others. Graduates of the CEE department and CEM program have commanded high starting salaries, left or stayed at Clarkson for fully funded PhD programs, have rapidly become licensed professional engineers, and risen quickly to be leaders in design and construction firms around the world. Over the last decade, the CEM program has boasted a 100% post-graduation hiring rate within 3 months of departing Clarkson. Sean, Kirsten and Seth exemplify the kind of success and excellence that Clarkson students, especially in CEE and CEM, demonstrate at the local, regional, national, and international levels, year in and year out. Learn more and come join us to see how we build your future!
